Edward Carhart, chief assistant to then-Miami-Dade State Attorney Richard Gerstein and a criminal defense attorney who won praise as a mentor, died at South Miami Hospital.

Carhart started his career as a civil trial lawyer but quickly switched to criminal law, taking a job at the Miami-Dade state attorney’s office, where he worked from 1965 to 1969 and again from 1973 to 1978. Carhart later made a name for himself as a distinguished defense attorney before retiring a few months ago.